


Watching Him

by AMidnightDreary



Series: Riddles [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2019-07-17 20:40:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16103399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AMidnightDreary/pseuds/AMidnightDreary
Summary: A little look into Tony's thoughts of "Bran".(Additional chapter to my story "A Riddle To Be Solved")





	Watching Him

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, I've written a chapter in Tony's POV! There's not much plot relevant stuff in it, I think, but just to give you an idea of what's going on in Tony's head. It should be read after chapter 15 of "A Riddle To Be Solved".  
> I hope you like it! Let me know what you think, and if you'd like to read more extra chapters like this. ^.^

He looked like Loki, and at the same time, he didn't look like Loki at all.

The hair was much shorter, for one thing. Back in the beginning, in Pep's office, it had only been one or two inches long. Now, the man who called himself Bran had taken to combing it back, since it kept falling into his eyes.

Yes, his eyes. Disturbingly green, suddenly. Perceptive, but withdrawn, never telling too much about what he was thinking.

The behaviour was different, too. The way he moved, hell, even the way he _talked_. That posh, weirdly British sounding accent was still there, but his words didn't sound like a memorized speech anymore. There were carefully chosen, yes, and he sure could use them well, but they never seemed false, or insincere. Which was strange, because he told dozens of lies each day. He was sincere in the way he lied, perhaps. Maybe good liars had to be.

Also, his movements seemed... smaller, somehow. As if he considered every move twice before making it. There was always a certain tension in the way he held himself, somewhere around his shoulders. Sometimes, it could almost be seen crawling up his spine, wanting to make him hunch his back but never quite succeeding. He always kept his posture upright. Impeccable, just like his manners.

Yeah, with those manners and the way he dressed – suits, always. They weren't expensive ones, but somehow he still managed to make them look as if they had been tailored for him – he could have been the perfect British gentleman. But he wasn't, not really – that undertone in his voice, that spark in his eyes, that smirk in the corner of his mouth; those were the things that gave him away. No one else noticed them, probably.

He had managed to charm about three quarters of their team into liking him. Which was impressive, since they hadn't even been aware of him in the beginning. Often enough, he was quite harsh to them, and not everyone appreciated his humor. It was all dryness and sarcasm, with a generous dose of blackness. But the people seemed to forget about that when he smiled at them in that convincing way of his; a smile so thrilling that it made some people forget how to breathe for a few seconds. His behaviour could very well be called flirting, now and then, but only if you didn't notice how that smile faltered as soon as no one watched him.

He wore a different smile when he was actually flirting.

Right now, he was reading the contract. A crease between his eyes, a hard line around his mouth. He was wearing that dark grey suit, which was one of his favorites, with a white shirt underneath. No tie. One hand in his hair, absentmindedly raking through the raven strands, while the other played with a pen. He did that when he was nervous.

Watching him was always a bit strange. Every so often, Tony found that he couldn't look away.

See, Tony remembered Loki as that scepter wielding lunatic clad in leather and gold; he remembered a manic grin and eyes brimming over with madness. He'd had the chance to examine him up close, in the few seconds before the god had thrown him out of a window. It had been long enough to realize that Loki had been insane, and sick. And beyond any reasoning.

Tony hadn't seen that Loki since the invasion.

He spotted traces of him, now and then. _This_ Loki, who would never be Bran to him, would move a certain way, or say something that vaguely resembled something he'd said during the invasion, and Tony would remember who he was talking to. Who he was bantering, flirting, hell, even _laughing_ with. Sometimes, he could see a flicker of invasion-Loki in that gleam in this Loki's eyes. It happened on bad days, mostly. When he got so angry and frustrated and cold that something in him seemed to snap. It made Tony recall how Loki had looked in New York, staring through the windows of Tony's penthouse at the city that had been drowning in chaos because of him. That Loki had been practically vibrating with _something_. Something that definitely hadn't been triumph or glee.

But there were other times, not just bad ones, when Tony would look at Loki and see the god who had held that speech in Stuttgart. Not that this Loki spoke to their team the way he had back then, but there was that expression on his face, sometimes. Not even during work, more when they were alone at lunch or in Tony's workshop. It was fairly obvious that Loki liked attention. Needed it, even. And when he got it, when he realized that Tony was _seeing_ him, then that satisfied, almost grim look would find its way into his eyes. The same look Tony had seen when he had watched the footage of Stuttgart. Loki obviously enjoyed being seen, and it seemed that, at least during the invasion, _being seen_ had been exactly the same as _being feared._

Tony wasn't entirely sure if that had changed.

This Loki also enjoyed making people uncomfortable, liked to tease and push buttons just to see what would happen. He was fairly good at manipulating people, and he obviously relished the control that gave him over them. But, and that happened often enough, when someone responded to him with wariness and fear even when he hadn't done anything, he didn't seem to be enjoying _that_. Tony could see that every time Loki spoke to Pepper, who still didn't trust him an inch. And there were other people, too, who seemed to avoid and mistrust him by instinct. As if they somehow knew that something about him wasn't quite right.

Stuttgart-Loki wouldn't have minded. On the contrary, he would have basked in the fear. It would have made him laugh and gather everyone frightened of him in one place just to taunt them.

This Loki, however, _did_ mind. It bothered him enough that he often didn't manage to hide his frustration over it. Probably because he had no idea what caused it, since he couldn't remember what he had done. Or what had been done to him.

It still made him angry, every time Tony thought about it. He just couldn't see any sense in it, even though he'd begun understanding at least _a bit_ what they had wanted to achieve. But anyway, it had gloriously backfired. He hadn't entirely figured out what was going on in Loki's head, what they had done to him, but it was damn obvious that it wasn't working as it should.

His eyes were still fixed on the screen that showed Loki sitting in their office. He really did look like Loki. Like some kind of modern, alternate reality Loki, maybe – like someone Loki could have been if he hadn't been born a god, but human.He had adapted to modern Earth quite well, even had a phone and a computer he used without any difficulties. But he still wasn't human, of course. No, he definitely _was_ Loki, even though some things he said and did contradicted _everything_ he had done during the invasion.

_I wouldn't want a throne, my ass._

But, well. Maybe he'd never wanted one, after all.

Rubbing his eyes, Tony leaned back in his chair. He was exhausted – not that that was anything new or unusual. He was always exhausted. Or entirely psyched up, with was sort of the same thing by now. He still couldn't sleep. The implants still didn't work the way he wanted them to. He felt as if his time was running low, couldn't get rid of this restlessness, no matter what he did.

Strangely enough, Loki helped.

Well, maybe it wasn't that strange. The only reason Tony was _here_ at all was so Loki would help. The god was the only chance he had, maybe the only chance they all had, and _of course_ he had to be amnesiac. And in this state he couldn't help, not really. Not yet. But somehow he still made things better – he was surprisingly, frighteningly good company. His sense of humor was a blessing, hands down, and his mind was intriguing. Not just because of the bugs that had been implanted in his head, but because of Loki _himself._ Tony had already assumed it during the invasion – or rather after it. He could always appreciate a witty quip, even if it came from their Public Enemy No. 1 shortly after he'd been smashed into the ground. Of course, that single sentence was nothing against actually spending time with Loki like he did now – actually being friends, even. Which there were, however that had happened.

Tony liked him. Hell, he _wanted_ him. A little bit too much, maybe.

This was a mess.

Tony stood up and stretched, glancing one last time at the screen. Loki looked a little bit frustrated by now. Tony had known Loki wouldn't like the contract, because it implied quite heavily that their time at CSN would be over soon. And Loki could roll his eyes and scowl as much as he wanted, Tony knew that he wasn't the only one enjoying the time they spend together.

But, well, it wasn't like _that_ would end any time soon. SHIELD and Thor had made it pretty clear that he was more or less responsible for Loki, which meant that, when he returned to New York again, Loki would come with him.

Tony found he didn't mind.

It wouldn't be much longer, he supposed. Loki was so damn close to figuring everything out, and Tony still hoped that Thor would help them out a little. He just wanted to get rid of that promise he'd made. He wanted Loki to remember, needed him to remember – and even Thor had said that Loki was close to tearing down the walls in his head _himself_. So maybe it would happen soon. And then -

Yeah. And then.

Tony stood in front of his desk, not entirely sure what he wanted to do. He'd worked on the damn implants a bit, but he'd had troubles concentrating. He knew that Loki had everything under control in the other lab, so he wasn't technically needed there. And, well, if Loki hadn't been there, he'd probably keep clear of it. But since Loki _was_ there... Maybe he could annoy him a little by talking about Game of Thrones again. Or even get him to watch an episode together, which would be funny as hell.

He was just searching for distraction in something that couldn't possibly last, and he knew that, but honestly, who cared? Better enjoy it as long as he could.

He was about to leave his lab when JARVIS announced an incoming call from Bruce. Tony was honestly pleased – Bruce didn't call that often and he called his friend even less, because he had no other choice than lie to him all the time, anyway.

“Hello there, Big Green, what's up?”, he answered the call, sitting down again. “Everything alright?”

“Hi, Tony. And yeah, I'm fine, what about you? Haven't heard from you in a while.”

Tony frowned slightly, not sure if he'd just imagined the slightly playful tone in Bruce's voice. It wasn't that the other scientist never made jokes or anything, because he did, but that tone was a bit off. “I know, sorry about that. We've been kind of busy.”

“No matter”, Bruce replied lightly. “See, I've had this meeting in Stockholm the last two days.”

Tony's blood ran cold. “The one that sounded awfully boring?”

“All meetings sound boring to you, Tony. Anyway, CSN is really nice, don't you think?”

 _Oh. Oh no._ “Bruce”, Tony said slowly, “where are you?”

“Uh. Building GC, I think. About to enter the elevator. Your labs are on the second basement floor, right?”

Tony scrambled to his feet again. He'd already grabbed his phone, sending a quick message to JARVIS. “Bruce, _Bruce,_ hey, I'm not there at the moment, I've got a personal workshop in another building. Stay right where you are, I'm gonna come and pick you up.”

“I'll wait for you in the lab, okay? In your office or something?” Tony could hear the faint ping of the elevator, telling him that Bruce was _almost there_. “You need to show me around here, anyway. Everything I've seen so far looks really nice. See you in a bit, okay? The signal's a bit crappy down here.”

“Bruce, no, you -”

But his friend had already hung up.

“Oh, fuck, JARVIS, have you -”

“ _He agreed to stay where he is and make sure Dr. Banner won't notice him_ ”, the AI said instantly, while Tony was already rushing toward the secluded room of this lab where he stored his suits. “ _I'm not entirely sure if we can rely on his words, though._ ”

“Of course we can't”, Tony replied, followed by another curse. He started to get into his suit. “He won't be able to keep his mouth shut.”

In building GC, fifteen minutes away from where Tony was, hell broke loose.

 


End file.
